K) The reasoning behind pushing for desegregation is rational, sound, and cogent. The other side of the issue, the desire for the persistence of a segregated society, does not compute. I have tried to rationalize why so many people were so angered by the idea of integration, but there is no truly justifiable answer. These people were taught to hate, so they operated with hatred. Nobody is born with a segregationist manifesto hardwired into their brain. Suppose one is raised on the idea that a group of people is inferior to their own. In that case, the sudden mixing of the two may be upsetting, I suppose, especially for poor white people, who, despite their lower status relative to wealthier white people, still enjoyed the ability to look down on someone else. Giving black people the same opportunities as whites destabilizes the social hierarchy that allows poor white people to enjoy a superiority complex. The “separate but equal” hoax hardly even masquerades as a true proposition. It served as a system of oppression that presented itself as a fair compromise. Both groups of people can access public restrooms, but one will be located in a convenient location and happen to be kept in good order while the other was far removed from a position of easy access and in all ways less nice than its counterpart. Melba mentions this frustrating reality early on in the story, recalling her conceding to the combination of childlike wonder and a full bladder. She had to use the restroom so she went to the nearest restroom, a logical decision. Her decision was shocking and appalling to the white people at the store, the thought of her body touching the same porcelain as theirs repulsed and outraged them. This encapsulates the well-formed perception of inferiority and sub-human status that black people enjoyed in the era of segregation. For simple reasons, black people wanted this situation to stop. They wanted access to the same opportunities as others, to receive the same quality of education with the same quality books to enhance their own lives. It is frustrating to have others define our possibilities. Black people had limitations placed on them as a result of their pigment. They were unsafe in their homes and in their communities. Nobody would care to put a stop to this if segregation persisted status quo. Melba’s mother and grandmother believed that the integration effort was necessary as an early domino that would bring about genuine equality and an understanding of sameness. Certain people refused to believe in the idea of sameness because they were taught to believe in radical difference. The only way to begin changing the collective thought would be to spark a new era of black and white people existing in the same spaces, utilizing the same services with no defined differentiation dictating who has access to what. In the beginning, there may be conflict, as there was on the first day of trying to integrate Central High School and in the ensuing weeks. Down the line, minds will change. People growing up in an integrated world will not believe in the idea of a superior race, at least I think that’s the idea. There are certainly more than a few outliers to that statement but the dominant discourse on race relations today is not one of white outrage over sharing the world with black people. That is, in part, owing to the painstaking, frightening integration efforts of individuals like Melba. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiDtc91dmTI — I think this youtube video effectively highlights the benefits of integration. People exposed to a wide variety of identities and backgrounds seem to hold fewer prejudices and biases against people of races that differ from their own.
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Chris,
I enjoyed reading your take on this question and watching the video (I did watch it in full). I wanted to relate my comment to you by relating it to the video you provided. At the beginning of your post, you stated how you found it hard to understand the segregationist side and that their acts were fueled by hatred. I wanted to address this thought and what people said in the video. We can all agree that there are people who take the power they hold and use it for racist intent, like segregation, which is what Melba has faced throughout the novel we have read so far. Except, what would you call people being racist or participating in segregational actions against their race? In the video, multiple Asian participants addressed how there was inter-racial racism and it almost seemed like they were hinting at segregational actions too. Or how even other minority groups, like African Americans and Hispanics, addressed how they can be racist in many ways too throughout the video. Could you possibly draw another connection from the video and the book that shows another reason why people wanted segregation other than hatred for one’s race? Because racism does not have to lie only between two races but rather can lie between a single race amongst each other. I think finding the answer to this question could provide a deeper understanding of the situation Melba is confronted with and why people were against her desegregating the school.